2 The SpringStandard Dialect
In order to achieve an easier and better integration, Thymeleaf provides a dialect which specifically implements all the
needed features for it to work correctly with Spring.
This specific dialect is based on the Thymeleaf Standard Dialect and is implemented in a class called
org.thymeleaf.spring4.dialect.SpringStandardDialect , which in fact extends from
org.thymeleaf.standard.StandardDialect .
Besides all the features already present in the Standard Dialect – and therefore inherited –, the SpringStandard Dialect
introduces the following specific features:
Use Spring Expression Language (Spring EL) as a variable expression language, instead of OGNL. Consequently, all
${...} and *{...} expressions will be evaluated by Spring’s Expression Language engine.
Access any beans in your application context using SpringEL’s syntax: ${@myBean.doSomething()}
New attributes for form processing: th:field , th:errors and th:errorclass , besides a new implementation of
th:object that allows it to be used for form command selection.
An expression object and method, #themes.code(...) , which is equivalent to the spring:theme JSP custom tag.
An expression object and method, #mvc.uri(...) , which is equivalent to the spring:mvcUrl(...) JSP custom function
(only in Spring 4.1+).
New DTDs for validation, including these new attributes, as well as new corresponding DOCTYPE translation rules.
Note that you shouldn’t use this dialect directly in a normal TemplateEngine object as a part of its configuration. Instead,
you should instance a new template engine class that performs all the required configuration steps:
org.thymeleaf.spring4.SpringTemplateEngine .
An example bean configuration:
<bean id="templateResolver"
class="org.thymeleaf.templateresolver.ServletContextTemplateResolver">
<property name="prefix" value="/WEB-INF/templates/" />
<property name="suffix" value=".html" />
<property name="templateMode" value="HTML5" />
</bean>
<bean id="templateEngine"
class="org.thymeleaf.spring4.SpringTemplateEngine">
<property name="templateResolver" ref="templateResolver" />
</bean>
